Comment

Comment by rfnkmk on April 8, 2010 at 12:25pm

It sounds to me like the company is only giving you a depth severance for horizons not known to contain gas potential suitable for these economic times. I do not live in your part of the state, so I can only speak to what I know for my NE PA area.
I know the Oriskany is in production in a least a few wells in a county near me. You might want to find out what you can on the potential of the Oriskany near you. It lies below the Onandaga formation.
There is also some interest in the potential of the Tully and three shales in or near that horizon or layer, specifically the Rheinestreet shale, the Genesco and one other I don't recall the name of right now. The Rheinestreet is not usable near me, but your location may be different. The other two are not well known, as least not to those of us who do not have access to recent well cores.

The one horizon they did sever is the Utica which is significantly below the Oriskany. The Utica has potential in some areas, but is much deeper and so more expensive to drill. It will require higher gas prices to be economic if there is much gas.

Is this a good depth severance? Maybe. It is better than no depth severance, but could be better.

Comment by daniel cohen on April 8, 2010 at 12:15pm

What company?
Dan

Comment by Whitt on April 7, 2010 at 9:38am

This depth severence seems to be pretty good. This will only allow the company to produce the Marcellus and it leaves you the option to both the shallow rights and the deeper rights. I am not real sure of the exact depths of these formations in Butler but I know that they are located extremely close to the Marcellus and will not tie up any other formation that major companies are going to look to produce. Hope this was helpful.